No doubt that many here are long in the tooth ... It's even possible that someones footprint may be under a pile of dinosaur dung ... None the less, stories, memories and wanderlust will continue to fuel the fire in the bellies of the younger crowd and keep the wheels turning westward ( at least from here ) every August ... At least I hope so

 

Don’t get me wrong - I want to see the industry thrive and grow but I just don’t see it happening. I have four adult children and work with many GenX and Millennials. Their idea of adventure is different than ours. Their economics are different than ours. Their concept of risk is way different than ours. And to a large degree, their perceptions of social norms is different. Every “Loud Pipes Saves Lives” rider out there is turning off scores of potential future riders.

Riding won’t die out - especially outside the US - but in the US the riding population is going to decrease significantly. IIRC HD is making about 50% the number of motorcycles they were just a few years ago. There is rumor that the current Honda Goldwing is THE last Goldwing design there will ever be. If Goldwing sales were nearly 10,000 per year in 2019 but post-pandemic is struggling to average 5,000 per year - at some point Honda will throw in the towel on manufacturing let alone embark on a redesign. (Honda does not disclose Goldwing sales numbers.)

Motorcycles will live on after us. There will be riders in the year 2030 and 2040… just a lot fewer than there are in 2023… unless something drastically changes.

 

Agree to disagree as I can’t blanket comment that an entire generation has entirely different views. If that was true we all failed raising our children.

Bottom line, Harley Davidson isn’t going anywhere. The whole gist of the post.

Cheers!

 

Though still popular, there's been a shift in the industry.

https://www.motorcyclesdata.com/2023...cycles-market/

 

Beat me to it Stiggy ... I was just going to post ( basically ) the same thing ... The adventure type scooters are becoming very popular

 

I'll throw my nickel in (inflation, two cents doesn't get you crap anymore) on this. Big fat HD's rumbling around don't really tug at anyone's interests these days unless you're a few years from retirement or your kids are looking into nursing homes. The cost of smaller cruisers and adventure bikes is affordable if you look at metric dealers instead of HD. Because, that's what younger riders can afford. They'll also start to look at automatics and electrics because it's simpler for them to operate. Only ones interested will be enthusiasts or performance junkies. Mark my words, watch how many automatics there are just ten years from now.

HD dealerships closing has nothing to do with sales. It has to do with an experience. They take the building, they theme it out, they add restaurants or small museums and become attractions. Those will survive. Your mega dealers will do the same if they have not already. I walk into our local dealer and it's a single dealership, not part of a chain. You can tell immediately. I rode in to Docs in Wisconsin and what a blast, a true attraction. That's what people will want. Doubtful they want to sit around a dingy, dirty environment and talk bikes. Hugs, bunnies, hot cocoa and free wifi is what they want now. It's the way of the world these days.

 

I don't see how the Taj Mahal dealerships are going to attract younger riders unless they are affluent and looking for "exclusivity" in their motorcycling experience. The average young rider is going to look for something affordable, and not from a palatial dealership that will probably intimidate some of them. I had ridden motorcycles for ten years before I could afford a good leather jacket.
If the MoCo can survive in the exclusive "Premium" bike market, more power to them.

 

Just imagine if financially clear back in the early 2000s Harley didn’t shove the Taj Mahal glass monument dealerships on everybody. Imagine the money that could’ve been made and the people that would’ve felt more comfortable walking into the mom and pop shops. I’m not saying there isn’t room for flashy dealerships in big cities. But why on earth did they go to small town‘s in force them to spend millions on these gigantic glass monstrosities that nobody liked. All it did was financially hurt the dealer and force him to drive costs up and do other shady things to get money out of our wallets. Who do you think paid for those crappy buildings. We did.


For example, I used to love going into Roaders Harley Davidson in Monroeville. You walked in and it was basically an old barn with cool vintage signs and cool parts for Harley’s. You could look through the two doors that lead to different sections and see machinery.. it was rustic and manly. It felt like a piece of americana.

Their competitor, hales Harley, Davidson, Built their stupid glass monstrosity. They very quickly took on that attitude that smug aloof attitude. They loved to look down on anyone that didn’t have the latest and greatest brand new Harley. They talked down to you if you had any service problems or wanted an older bike repaired. In my dictionary if I open up “a whole” the first thing listed is Hales Harley Davidson. I never spent one penny with those jerks. The’d insult you over your bike, demand high prices and just treated you like garbage. And yet they’re still in business. And the cool places like F&S Harley, and Roaders Harley and so many others are out of business. That’s why I keep saying I want nothing to do with today’s Harley Davidson. I don’t want their bikes, their service programs, their financing, their stupid T-shirts. I want nothing to do with modern Harley. But holy crap. Do I ever love what used to be.

remember when you could walk into a parts counter and say you needed such and such a part and they actually understood that part fit 10 years worth of bikes. Nowadays you walk in and say you need something like a Dunlop 130 x 16 tire..that the goofy person behind the counter has no way of even knowing what you’re talking about. He has a start with his stupid questions. What year is your bike and he wants all the specific information. He wants you to tell him where it was purchased and all this other retarded information because you wanna tire. What the hell does buying a tire have to do with any of the information. It’s because that disconnected moron knows nothing about bikes and doesn’t care. He’s some dude that only goes in, logs into his computer, and fails. Hell you even talk to the service department and it’s some disgruntled angry person who doesn’t want to work on anything if it wasn’t manufactured in the last three years. I truly do hate them.

I will always always be 100% my own mechanic and never take anything to anyone else ever again in my life. It’s been at least 25 years since I’ve walked into a service department and request work be done. And there was at least a 20 year stretch that I didn’t even walk in and ask for a part.

 

In this area (East bay - Central Kalif), I'm seeing more and more younger riders (on Harley's)
than ever before. Dyna's, FXR's and new gen Softail's. Some on baggers too.

In years past I would go to an event. Looking around, all I would see was OLD.
Not now. Mostly guys late 20's early 30's. Not old like me (62)
Which also means younger eye candy to look at.

 

I'm thinking tis list of closed dealerships needs to be reviewed and edited.

I just discovered today that Shiawassee H-D in Birch Run, Michigan is no longer !